With A Beating Heart
by BetYouCan'tFindMe
Summary: What happens when all is not as it seemed during 5x21? As Hook tried to find the storybook pages to help Emma, he finds Hades as well. If Hades was in the Underworld, then who's with Zelena? Save Zades and OutlawQueen!
1. Chapter 1

**This is basically my re-write of 5x21. I disapprove of what Adam and Eddie had done to Hades and Robin. Because seriously?! Hades is amazing and wasn't given a chance! He is my favorite character on that show. Zelena never got enough time with him! And Robin was loved by many despite his uselessness in the recent episodes. My disappointment in OUAT right now is overwhelming. There were major plot holes so I tried to fill in the holes before Adam and Eddie completely destroys everything (oh wait, they already did).**

 **Also, the ideas displayed in this story were inspired by posts from Tumblr, especially those from _handsome-trainwreck_. So my many thanks go out to you. ****And clearly, I wouldn't be making this story if OUAT was mine so yeah (disclaimer).**

 **Anyways, please enjoy.**

* * *

Captain Hook and King Arthur searched the vast room of the Lord of the Underworld's sanctuary. Arthur, tired of searching aimlessly around the room, asked his newfound companion, "Are you even sure he hid it here? You said it yourself, this is his kingdom. Don't you think it's possible he hid it somewhere else?"

Killian flipped books and swiped papers off the table in frustration. "The pages have to be _here_! Emma is - They couldn't - Argh!" He slammed his fist down on to the table. "I have to help her. I can't move on while knowing she's in danger and I could have done something to help her."

"Ah, true love... So sickening." Arthur rolled his eyes at the display of frustration. Though he could somewhat understand the sentiment, the pirate's declaration of love was too sappy for him to handle.

All of a sudden, the ground shook. The walls shuddered and a loud boom could be heard as the Underworld quaked.

Arthur grabbed on to throne to avoid falling over. Hook cursed, "Why won't it stop?! The bloody portal's been closed for half a day now and last I checked Cruella and the Blind Witch seemed to be having fun keeping other souls from leaving."

Arthur looked at him inquisitively. " _Portal_? What does that have to do with anything?" Hook shook his head and sighed, "It's a long story, just forget about it."

Another quake hit.

Killian's eyebrows furrowed, "That's strange." Arthur looked back at him from his crouched position by the pool table, "What?"

Hook looked around, his eyes stopping at one of the few large dark cave-like halls of the throne room. Slowly walking towards the opening of the hall with eyes narrowing in suspicion, "The tremors, they seem to be stronger down here than anywhere else." The whole room shuddered once more, but much stronger than the first one. "Alright, that's it. There's something over there that must be causing the quakes. Let's go!"

"I'm sorry, did you just say that we should go towards the possibly _dangerous_ source of massive earthquakes? Is this because you have something to prove? Look, I may not be one with my cycle of death just yet, but I don't think this is a healthy mentality. I'm sure you've proven to your Emma that you were worthy of her love, get over it. I refuse to go somewhere that could kill me even more than I already am." Arthur protested as he looked at the pirate incredulously.

Killian glared at the former ruler, "Do you want to be redeemed or not?! We're going over there. After living in Storybrooke for the past few years, I've learned a thing or two. If something seems strange, it almost definitely involves magic which could mean good or bad news. We're going." He turned his back to his reluctant ally and moved further down the big hall. Arthur groaned in annoyance but followed along anyway.

The shaking and trembling of the earth increased in frequency as the pair got closer and closer to the end of the hall. A golden door stood ominously at the end of the long hall, but Killian and Arthur could practically feel power and magic radiating out of it.

"Well, if the ex-king of Camelot somehow dies a _second_ death here in hell, let it be known Killian Jones that it was entirely your fault. I've already told you that going over here is dangerous." Hook rolled his eyes at Arthur's drama.

At this point, the quakes seemed to have taken a break and the hall stood quiet. Hook took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

* * *

 _Zelena._

 _I'm sorry._

 _I should have known this would happen._

Hades stared at the white transparent walls of his new prison, as if being banished and stuck in the Underworld wasn't enough. Anger and pain burned inside him. After seeing Zelena after all those years, after kissing her and finally restarting his heart, after _everything_... This happens. Hades growled and his hair flared with blue flames. He needs to get out. Zelena and her baby are in danger. Not to mention an entire town full of ignorant heroes and their subjects, but they weren't as important as Zelena and her Sweet Pea.

He glared at the wall separating him from his true love. He will get out. Determined, Hades closed his fist and punched it. The white barrier and all of the Underworld shook once more. But what was more noticeable to Hades was the small crack that began appearing on the wall after a day of godly punching.

 _I'm coming Zelena._

 _Just wait a little while longer._

 _My brother will pay for this._

* * *

"Hades!" Killian took a step back as he saw what, or who, was behind the golden door. Arthur's own eyes widened as he saw his killer's face.

Hades looked up from the small crack on his transparent prison to see the oh-so-familiar pirate and a man in a suit of armor. When he unconsciously asked the other gods for help, this wasn't exactly what Hades had in mind. He got the One-Hand Wonder and Sir Stubble. They don't look like much, but he'll take whatever he could get. The crack on his prison gave Hades some hope, but it's obvious he won't be getting out any time soon unless he got help.

Soon, Arthur and Killian calmed down enough after their minor heart attack to notice that one) Hades wasn't going to attack them and two) there was a huge barrier separating them that stretched across the room of what looked to be like a prison cell.

"Oh, good. You need to get me out of here."

"Get you out of what looks like your prison? _Ha_. Don't make me laugh. Emma must have defeated you already for you to be here. If you ask me, this is a lighter punishment than you deserve." Killian smirked at the sight of Hades trapped in a cell.

"Huh, does this mean my help isn't needed anymore?" Arthur tilted head, "Also, is it still possible for me to still kill him? I don't appreciate being killed."

" _What_? What are you talking about? You know what, never mind. Zelena and the others are in danger!" Hades slammed his fist against the barrier that separated them. If they don't let him out, then forget about reform and having a beating heart. He will throw the both of them into the River of Souls once out.

Hook shook his head and said, "They were in danger because of you. Considering you seem to be trapped here, I know that they must be safe. C'mon Arthur, our mission is done." Hook and Arthur turned around and were about to head for the door when Hades called out to them.

"Wait! Just listen! My brother, Zeus..."

* * *

He came to my throne room while I was finding that satchel that I gave Emma during your true love quest. He found out about Zelena and her... _connection_ to me. Our True Love's Kiss resonated up to Olympus. Zeus was not happy.

"I'm so disappointed in you, Hades. I gave you this job because I thought you could handle ruling over the dead."

"Gave me this job? You practically called dibs on the sky and everything else. Sorry if I'm not as enthusiastic as you want me to be while ruling a realm that I didn't want in the first place."

"Well, at least I gave you a realm, didn't I? If it wasn't for me, you would have nothing right now. In fact, you should be thanking me brother."

"Thanking you? For what, exactly? Banishing me here? Stopping my heart? _Yes_ , brother. I have _so much_ to thank you for." Sarcasm, after all, is the best way to deal with him without losing brain cells in frustration.

"I did it to protect you! But due to your foolishness in allowing that witch to kiss you, everything is unraveling! This, Zelena Mills, and the other mortals that you allowed into your realm need to be stopped. I refuse to let your petty crush for her to ruin our rule of Olympus!"

I scoffed at my brother's words. "We're true love! You told me yourself that only True Love's Kiss would break the curse and start my heart again. That's what happened! Look, considering that I am in a rather... happy... mood, I will let you leave here without even a single punch in the face. But, of course, the next time that I see you... I wouldn't be as _nice_." I turned my back to him in order to grab the satchel from the top of the cabinet. That turned out to be a bad decision.

"Then you leave me with no choice, Hades."

* * *

"... The next thing I know, I'm here. Whoever killed you was not me. My brother must have disguised himself or made someone else do it." Hades paced back and forth in the room. Fists clenched and head tilted forward. He sighed and looked back up to Hook and Arthur, "Gods, I hate saying this... I need your help. Get me out, I have to stop my brother or else you would be seeing your friends down here sooner than you think. I'll even bring you back to life if that would help you make up your mind."

Hook stared at the god in contemplation. Arthur shook his head, "Please tell me you honestly aren't thinking about letting him out of here. From what you've told me, he's a worse king than I was, cutting that tree so you wouldn't be able to leave, locking your friends down here and all that. _And_ he also killed me!"

"Oh, get over it! I just told you it wasn't me! As for the tree, _think_ about it! I never had a true love before Zelena, how could have I possibly gotten into a chamber where only true love could pass? Unlike me, my brother has had his true love, Hera, for millennia."

Killian was conflicted. He wanted to help Emma, but should he really risk letting Hades loose? But then again, Zeus was apparently worse than Hades. Better the devil you know. "If I let you out of there, you have to swear not to harm Emma and her family or friends. If not..."

Hades didn't have time for this, his brother could be hurting Zelena at this moment. "Yes. I swear not to harm your girlfriend and everyone else. _Happy_? Or perhaps you'd like me to swear my _undying love_ for you as well?" He pointed to the corner of the room on their side of the wall. At the corner was an ornate white marble pedestal with a dark gleaming sword. The sword's obsidian blade was embedded in the pedestal, its silver and gold hilt sticking out. "Take the sword out and stab the barrier with it. It should break this."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "That's it? No magic, no spell. Just a sword? If your brother was so evil, then why would he leave a key to letting you out so near you? That's a foolish thing to do." Killian walked towards the pedestal that Hades indicated, but still cautious in his approach.

"My brother may be the king of the gods, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of being _stupid_ sometimes. He figured no one would ever care about the Lord of the Underworld, so he left the thing to taunt me." Hades explained impatiently.

Killian took the sword and handed it over to Arthur, "Here. I figure you still need to go through your anger phase of the death cycle. Why don't you give the wall a go?"

Arthur grinned as he weighed the sword in his hands. He looked over the god and sighed, "Considering I'm trying to get some redemption, I won't try to kill you. But if the pirate ends up being wrong about trusting you, I call being first to stab you... Now stand back."

Hook looked at the scene in amusement. "I'm afraid you would need to get in line, mate. He has a rather long list of enemies."

Hades rolled his eyes at the threat and sarcastically said, "Would you like me to leave you two alone for a while? The _bromance_ is just so overwhelming."

The blade of the sword hit the white transparent wall. A bright filled the room. A loud crash was heard and the wall that trapped Hades quickly crumbled to the ground. Hades took a deep breath and stepped over the rubble. He cleared his throat, "Thank you."

"Now, let's get to Storybrooke. Surely you're able to make another portal." Hook looked over at the released god for confirmation. Hades nodded curtly, "But first things first, we have matters to settle. I refuse to leave this place with no leader, or at least without someone I can trust to not be idiotic." Not minding if the other two followed, he walked out of his sanctuary and headed towards town.

As they walked out and back to what many dubbed as Underbrooke, Hook replied to the god, "Well, your brother left this place in the hands of Cruella and the Blind Witch. Cruella seems to be continuing your previous efforts of keeping the souls here." Hades scoffed. Just then, whilst at the center of town, Arthur noticed that there were a growing crowd of people watching them, one of which were coming towards them. "Incoming."

"Lord Hades! What ever are you doing here?" said Cruella, "We thought you went over to the land of the living." Hades rolled his eyes at Cruella's efforts to kiss up to him, "Obviously you thought wrong," Looking around at the crowd of people around him, his eyes landed on Arthur, "You know, I think some new management is in order."

"But - but, you left Underbrooke to me. I've been doing quite well in not letting any souls leave!"

Hades chuckled, "Ah, yes. Perhaps. But it wasn't _me_ who gave you this town or that order. It was my brother. And, quite frankly, I _hate_ him. Anything he does pertaining to me, is definitely not appreciated. So," He waves to Cruella, " _Bye-bye_."

He turns his back to her and looked over the crowd. Hades smirked and in a boss-like fashion said, "Residents of Underworld, I would like to introduce you to your new mayor... Arthur of Camelot."

Arthur and Hook looked at him in surprise. Tilting his head towards the previous king of Camelot, Hades' eyes glimmered dangerously as he whispered to Arthur, "Consider this my apology for my brother's actions and since you were a king, you should do nicely in ruling people. This is your second chance, don't waste it."

"You're giving me your kingdom. Just like that?" Arthur asked incredulously.

Hades raised a brow, "Oh, you think I don't have conditions? I know what happened to the last place you ruled. So, _no_. It's not _just like that_. I'll be sending you some help. Although," He looked at Arthur up and down. He determined, "I doubt she will be impressed by what she's going to see." With that, Hades walked away and Hook followed after. "But rest assured, if you ruin _my_ kingdom, I _will_ hurt you."

"Wait... She? Who are you sending me?!"

Alas, Arthur's question was not answered.

* * *

 **Storybrooke and Zelena would be featured in the next chapter, so please bear with me. I would also like to know your thoughts and any ideas you might like for me to incorporate into the story. Review or PM me if you'd like.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I couldn't keep my mind of Zades. I literally made three fanvids and started a second story before I realized that I should probably finish a chapter of this first.**

 **I changed some parts of the first chapter, so if you want to read that then go ahead.**

 **It's been a while, but here you go.**

* * *

As he pushed her down towards the sofa and dug and bit into her neck, she held onto his shoulders. She loved him, of course. There is certainly no doubt at this point. But, at the moment, - her eyes squeezed shut and her lips pursed - it just didn't feel right. She let out a puff of breath and tried to gently push him off of her. "Stop, don't."

Unfortunately, his response was the opposite of her desired effect. A cold hand gripped her hip tightly while another slid over her body and towards the first button of her dress. She pushed him off her with more force. " _Stop_." For a second, he lost balance and had to hold on to the back of the sofa for support.

"Zelena?" He looked at her incredulously as her head fell into her hands in frustration. "You know, I thought we had a good thing going. What's wrong?" Zelena looked at the dark blue eyes of her true love and bit her lip. There was something wrong but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. That something has been niggling in the back of her mind and she can barely enjoy being with him because of it. Zelena opened her mouth to voice her thoughts but was interrupted by the wail of her daughter. She gave Hades an apologetic look and quickly got up to go tend to her baby in one of the quiet rooms of the mansion.

Zeus frustratingly watched as the witch departed. Once she was gone, he shook his head in disbelief. How could a witch walk out of a make-out session as if it was nothing? He was a pretty good kisser, all things considered. It _must_ have been something about her. The god looked over at the mirror on the black and white wall of the office and inspected the reflection of himself. Slowly, the image in the mirror changed. A face full of work and frowns rippled as a younger face of ease and smiles replaced it. Blonde hair turned dark brown. Dark blue eyes flickered into something resembling the color of lightning. A smirk appeared as the new image completed itself.

"Of course, my brother's true love had to be strange in order to fall in love with him." Rolling his eyes at the fact that Hades actually found someone to love him, Zeus fixed his dark hair and readied himself to pretend a little while longer. At least all of his acting wouldn't be in vain if the heroes manage to convince Zelena that Hades is evil before his plan comes to fruition. He could just kill the heroes. He could kill them all now, it would definitely be simpler. But this way, even if his brother found a way out of that town he created in the Underworld, no one would believe his innocence. "Oh Hades, you should have listened to me. You just _had_ to force my hand. Now, your so-called true love must pay the price for your mistakes."

The clicking of heels could then be heard going towards the office. Zeus cast his disguise back on again and went over to the mayor's desk to pretend to fix the Olympian Crystal. Zelena walked in, carrying a now quiet baby in her arms."I have to go to the store, Sweet Pea here needs some more milk. Do you need me to get anything for you?"

Zelena handed Zeus her baby for a moment in order to put her coat on. Zeus stared at the child in his arms. Despite his many offspring, he always did prefer what happened beforehand rather than what came after. Zeus cleared his throat and answered the question with "No, thank you". Upon noticing Zeus' silent discomfort, Zelena quickly took back the small child once she had her coat on.

"Well, we'll be back soon." she said. She walked over to the god that was pretending to be her true love and gave him a peck in the cheek while grabbing the baby bag that was beside the crystal on the desk. Then, Zelena walked out the door, leaving Zeus alone in the mansion.

* * *

The day was still as damp and gloomy as it was when they first got back. The storm clouds had not yet let up and it felt colder each minute one stayed outside. Zelena worried about the cold and kept checking to make sure her baby felt warm and snug in her pink blanket. She hugged her baby just a little tighter as a short gust of wind went past.

She felt a bit guilty for lying to Hades about where she was going, but Zelena didn't think saying that she was going to visit Regina would go over well with him at the moment. As she headed towards Charming's house, Zelena passed by the library and noticed through the open windows that Regina and the heroes were holding what looked like a meeting. She took a deep breath and entered the library.

"Emma, you need to stop and think. Put your personal feelings aside. Hook might not be here anymore but that doesn't mean you lose your head."

"If Killian was here, he would be taking down Hades with me. So, no! I do not need to stop. Hades is the one that needs to be stopped."

"Emma, you're pushing yourself to work because that's the way you grieve. We get that, but you have to slow down."

"Your mother's right. We have to think this through and research. Hades is a god, it's not like we can just hit him with everything we've got and win. That is not the way to fight this kind of battle."

"Yeah, if you're not going to listen to me then listen to your parents."

Zelena cleared her throat to announce her presence and to hopefully stop them from talking about taking down Hades. Regina looked over at the sound by the door and found her sister shifting uncomfortably. "Zelena! What are you doing here?"

Robin, on the other hand, quickly moved toward Zelena to get closer to his daughter. Zelena didn't even resist Robin's attempt. She willingly handed over the child to him. The ex-thief, filled with relief, said "Thank you" and quickly began fussing over his baby. Snow took the baby bag from Zelena and went to help Robin.

"I think you're on to something, Hades..." Zelena let out a shaky breath. "Ever since we left the Underworld, he's been acting strange. He thinks I'm at the store right now but, to be honest, I was coming to see you about him." Regina went over to Zelena and put a reassuring hand on her arm, but she was brushed off. Zelena still wasn't that comfortable in their new sisterly dynamic despite their progress.

David asked, "What do you mean by strange? Did something happen?"

"Hades has some sort of weapon, a powerful one at that. He calls it the Olympian Crystal. He said that it has the ability to wipe someone, even a god, out of existence. I've never heard of it until he told me, but I could _definitely_ feel power radiating off of it."

Emma scoffed, "And you're telling us this because...? Why are you here with us and not your new boyfriend? This could be a trap for all we know." She crossed her arms in distrust.

Zelena pursed her lips in her effort to not snap at her sister's baby momma. "I don't expect you to trust me, but I do hope you would trust in the fact that someone would do whatever it takes to protect the people they care about. The Olympian Crystal is dangerous, I don't want that anywhere _near_ my daughter. Hades insists on keeping it because he believes you're out to get him, to get us. Considering what I heard a few minutes ago, he seems to be right about that."

"He tried locking us down there, Zelena," Robin stepped forward with the baby as he said, "That crystal he has might be dangerous, Hades is even more so. We have to protect everyone."

Zelena rolled her eyes at the over-used excuse of protecting the town, " _Right_. Because everything you heroes do is always for the sake of protecting someone or everyone," She sighed and said, "But if you really do go after Hades, just… don't hurt him… much. And for the love of all things magically wicked, don't even _think_ about killing him! It's probably the crystal that's affecting him, he's not always like that."

Regina nodded placatingly and responded, "Look, Zelena. We can't guarantee that Hades won't ever get hurt in our effort to protect the town, but we won't try kill him."

"Seriously?" Emma said incredulously.

Snow gasped at her daughter's remark, "Emma!"

"Well, it's not like he's going anywhere he didn't belong. Wouldn't he just go back to the Underworld or Olympus or wherever gods go?"

"We still won't do that! No matter what he's done." Emma frowned at Snow's admonishing tone. "Payback on Hades wouldn't bring Hook back to us."

A resigned Emma sighed, "But it sure as hell would make me feel better."

"You know, Aunt Zelena could be right about the Olympian Crystal affecting Hades. I mean, Grandpa Gold sort of changed whenever he had the Dark Dagger. It could be like that." The adults in the room turned their heads towards Henry whom they seemed to have forgotten was researching storybooks in the corner. Henry looked up from his book and noticed the surprised looks on everyone's faces, "What? Did you forget about me again? It's a wonder how you guys get anything done without my help sometimes..."

"Sorry about that, kid. We never meant to forget about you." Emma put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "But, we can think about Hades' motives later. Getting him away from that crystal and stopping him are the first things on our to-do list. We can ask questions later." Henry shook his head with disappointment that only a sixteen-year-old could muster. He has a feeling this might not end well.

Feeling that it was time for them to get their act together, David took on the role of leader once more, "Alright then, we should make a plan. If Zelena stays here with us for very long, Hades might get suspicious. But we could use her to our advantage. To surprise him, I mean." He looked over at Zelena to see if he had her approval.

Regina began to protest, "No. We are not using my sister as _bait_!"

"David's right. A surprise attack is our best bet. His defenses would be down around Zelena." Robin argued. "It's doubtful that a direct attack would be a good idea."

"You're seriously agreeing with Charming on this, Robin?"

"Regina, you have to think objectively about this."

"Yeah, _put your personal feelings aside_."

"The snark isn't appreciated, Saviour..."

"Enough!" Zelena raised her voice above the burgeoning conversation. "I'll go back to the mansion and try to talk him down. I'll even let you into the mansion if that helps," She gave her sister, what she hoped was, a comforting look to calm her down. Regina reluctantly agreed but stared back at her apprehensively. "Other than that, you're on your own."

"We know this must be hard for you, going against your true love, but this is for the greater good." Snow tried to reassure Zelena. Needless to say, Zelena was not impressed.

Rather than respond to Snow's effort to encourage her, Zelena turned and walked to the library doors. She was ready to head back to the mayoral mansion, if not to help then to just get away from the heroes. David, Regina, and Emma quickly followed the red-haired woman.

"Wait, I'll go with you." Robin handed the baby to Snow and moved forward to join them but was stopped by Regina.

"Robin, as much as I want you to come with us, we have to think about your kids. You've already spent enough time away from Roland. We almost died while in the Underworld. I don't want Roland and that little one over there to possibly lose both their parents. It's practically impossible for me to convince Zelena of anything, but Robin, _please_ , I just want you to be safe." Regina took his hands into her own. In her mind, she willed him to agree. Robin sighed and placed a hand on her cheek. Regina smiled at the gesture.

"I won't go. But stay safe, alright? I love you."

"I love you, too."

Behind the couple, Henry raised a brow at his mother and her soulmate. But his attention was quickly diverted by a text he received from Violet. Snow and David smiled at each other knowingly and kissed for good luck. Emma closed her eyes in remembrance of her own love. He was still in the Underworld for all she knew.

* * *

Zelena turned her head away, not able to handle watching the display of love that she had once hoped to have herself. She questions her actions. Of all the times she could have an existential crisis, it had to be now.

 _Do the right thing, surround her daughter with a bunch of heroes, actually earn Regina's love._

 _Keep her daughter all to herself, stay with her true love, possibly rule lands alongside Hades._

Why is this so difficult? All she always wanted was to be loved. Once she actually gets her wish, she has to choose between the two people. Zelena glanced at her baby in Snow White's arms. When her daughter is all grown up, she wanted her to be proud of her mother. If doing the right thing and helping the heroes is what she has to do to get that, then fine. But she remembers Hades and the things that he's done for her, Zelena felt a pang of regret.

 _I'm sorry Hades._

* * *

David walked over to one of the tables that was littered with books and took his sword from the pile. He grabbed Emma's red leather jacket from a nearby chair and handed it to his daughter.

Zelena looked back at the assembled band that would be following her back. "Oh gods, I have a bad feeling about this. Worst case scenario is that we're all going to die. Best case is that you're all going to die… And you don't even have magic!" Her hands moved to her hips and looked at the heroes' fearless leader, "Hades is a god, I'd like to think he's had plenty of time to perfect things." Her gaze flew over to David's sword. "One of which being sword-fighting."

"Hey, he's not always useless in magic fights." Emma tried to defend her dad.

"I would thank you for the back-up but I feel like I'm still being insulted here. Look, I understand the concern but I can handle myself against magic, Zelena. You don't have to worry about me that much."

"Don't say I never told you so."

After saying goodbye to Robin, Regina moved to be alongside her sister. In doing so, it became clear that their group was ready to leave. "Let's go." Said Regina.

And with that, Emma, David, Regina, and Zelena left to face the god of the Dead.

* * *

 **I hope this has been alright for you guys. I apologize if anyone is OOC. If it seems anti-climactic, then just bear with me please, I got a plan.**

 **The story is going back to the Underworld with Hades and Hook and how they're going to get out for the next chapter. Some guest characters include Charon and maybe Pain and Panic. Watching 'Hercules' and 'Ally Mcbeal'** **is so much fun. Sassy Hades and Richard Fish just give me life.**

 **If you guys want to watch some Zades fanvids on Youtube, check out BYC879.**

 **PM or review any ideas you might want to see in the story. Suggestions are appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, I'm back. Jeez, Charon got really weird. I meant for it to be sort of serious chapter. Then this happened. The update is really late, so I'm really sorry for those waiting. Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

"Where are we going?" Hook asks as he and Hades goes through the dark forest of the Underworld. The pirate bats aside a stray branch with his hook. Hades moves slightly ahead of him. Both were calm, just like the sea before a great storm.

"We're visiting a friend." Hades replied.

"A friend that lives in a forest? Who wants to live here of all places? There are perfectly good apartments in town." Killian scowls at Hades' back. The forest looked too much like Neverland for his tastes. Trekking the woods with a god that tortured him and threatened the lives of his friends wasn't really how he wanted to spend his remaining time in the Underworld.

Hades keeps moving further into the woods, but releases a scoff. "Don't judge. Your friend, Robin Hood, spent most of his time here in the woods. With a _baby_. Honestly, this is my territory. Did he really think he could hide from me? The least he could have done for his child is to give her the comfort of a cradle and air conditioning."

Hook raises an eyebrow at the response. "They were afraid that you were going to hurt the baby. You can't blame him for trying to keep her safe."

Hades suddenly stops. The heroes thought he was going to hurt the child. His fists clench and he closes his eyes, trying to remain calm. "Keeping her safe?"

Hades spins on his heel to look at Hook in disbelief. He spreads out his arms to point out the forest. "These woods consists of monsters none of you have ever encountered before. Worse than anything in Neverland. Do you know why I made a town here in the Underworld? Besides for my own personal reasons, it was to protect my subjects, wandering souls, from these creatures."

Killian stood there stunned as Hades continued on with his rant. "The only reason that Robin Hood and the baby survived in these woods was because _I_ kept them _safe_. I made a protection spell that would latch on to the baby as soon as she got to the Underworld. As long as her father was with her, he would also be safe from harm. You heroes have _no right_ , none of you, to blame me for putting her in danger, when all _you've_ done was jeopardize her safety."

Hades takes a deep breath to relax. "She is the child of my true love. I never would have hurt her." With that, the god turns and goes back to the task at hand.

Hook silently follows; he is still processing the information that was given to him. Unfortunately, as they keep walking, he grows increasingly uncomfortable by the awkward silence. "So… You still haven't told me who this friend of yours is."

Hades sighs as he ducks under a branch. He could never seem to get a moment of peace around heroes. "We're meeting with Charon. He has a secret stash of ambrosia and likes to take breaks from his job to get high off said ambrosia. His rather psychedelic experiences happen to take place in the middle of the woods. So here we are in a damn forest, looking for a stash that will give you back your life. Did I answer your question?"

"Why, yes. _Thank you_. I could have accepted the answer without the tone, you know." Killian raises his voice a little to make sure Hades could hear him. "What is this anyway? The hostility really isn't appreciated. Do you just naturally have anger issues? I think I've overheard something about you and your brothers. I have some personal experience with that as you may know. I've been told that talking helps. But then again, there are times when Emma doesn't follow her own advice. It's good advice though."

Hook stops all of a sudden. It was then that his mind processed Hades' answer to his question. "Wait, did you say that Charon eats the ambrosia? Wouldn't he be alive then?"

"He's eternally dead."

As Hook keeps trying to engage Hades into a conversation, they walk into a clearing. The clearing is brighter and greener than the rest of the woods. On the ground are small mounds of dirt. Despite being in the Underworld, this quiet place seemed alive.

Killian steps up beside Hades in the middle of the clearing. "Charon! Show yourself!" Hades shouts out. His demand echoes. Only silence replies.

"Maybe we should go to the Styx, he-"

"Boo."

Both men jumps in surprise at the sound. Hook curses, "Bloody hell!"

They whip their heads to see the source of the sound behind them. Hook sees a dark figure wearing a hood over his face, looking exactly like how the Ferryman of the Underworld has been depicted. A black hood obscures the figure's face and he has bony hands sticking out of the sleeves of his robe. A hoarse sound could be heard coming out of the hood. It was laughter. Remembering the ferryman from his trip _into_ the Underworld, Hook stares at Charon in disbelief. Hades just rolls his eyes at Charon's antics.

"Are you laughing?" Killian asks Charon incredulously. He looks at Hades, "Is he _laughing_?"

Hades pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation. _I'm dealing with children. Gods help me._ "Charon, where's your stash of ambrosia?" He tiredly demands.

The sound of hoarse laughter stops. Charon's head tilts towards his boss. This seemed like a rather suspicious development. He questions Hades. "Why would you like to know? What makes you think I have one in the first place?"

"It's a known fact throughout the Underworld that you get high off ambrosia. The pirate," Hades said. He points to Hook, "needs some to go to the Land of the Living with me. You can keep the rest of the ambrosia as long as you don't give them to anyone else. Now, could you get the ambrosia? We need to hurry."

Charon sighs, resigned. He crouches down and begins to dig into one of the mounds of dirt in the clearing. "You must really love this woman. You letting someone out of the Underworld alive is a rare occurrence. The last time this happened, you let Orpheus and his wife leave because Perse-"

Killian stands straighter as he listens to the ferryman. _There was a woman in Hades' life before Zelena. Well, this certainly got interesting._ He begins to think up questions to ask, but Hades stops Charon from telling more information.

"Why don't you mind your own business, Charon?" Hades scowls as he cuts off his loyal employee. _I don't need a reminder of my stupid mistakes._

"Here," Charon brings up a small pile of ambrosia and hands them over to Hook. "Go on. Eat it."

Hook looks at the pile with disgust. The ambrosia is gold and as solid as jello. Unfortunately, it is also covered with a scattering of dirt. Brown specks of dirt covers the gold food as Hook inspects it. "Can't you clean this? It came from the ground. Who knows what else I'll be be eating along with ambrosia."

"You would be eating dirt. Get over it, pirate. That's the price for living," Charon replies.

"And getting back your already decaying flesh." Hades adds, amused. Hook gives the god an unimpressed glance.

Killian brings the food closer to his face as he notices that there is something brown moving in the pile. "Is that a worm? There's a worm in this! That can't be safe." Hades crosses his arms and smirks at Hook's complaints.

Hook gulps loudly. The two immortals beside him grin at his reaction. He squeezes his eyes shut and imagines having one of those jellos that hospitals give out. He proceeds to put the whole pile of ambrosia into his mouth, all of it including the dirt and possible worms. The pirate looks like a chipmunk as he closes his mouth. Unfortunately, he couldn't force himself to swallow as he feels something move in his mouth and he knows that it isn't his tongue. Hook begins to panic and look around to find a place to spit out the food.

"Don't you dare spit that out. That is the food of the gods, boy! Eat it if you want to live!" Charon said.

"Or you could give it to us."

Hades, Charon, and Hook turn and stare as fifteen-foot tall monster emerges from the dark forest, a Chimera to be exact. The Chimera has a body of a goat with a serpent's tale. It also has two heads. One is of a lion's head and the other is a dragon's. The sight of the monster got Hook to swallow his food.

A golden glow engulfs Killian. A warm feeling moves through his body. His memories goes through his mind in rapid speed. Milah. Crocodile. Baelfire. Henry. Emma. His heart feels like it was going to burst with feeling. Soon the glow disappears. The cold winds of the Underworld hits him. Fear gripped him. _It's as if the glow and warmth never happened._ But the beating of his heart told him otherwise. He is _alive_.

Hook clears his throat to appear normal instead of crying in relief. He gags as he feels the food move down his throat; he has a feeling that whatever is going down, it isn't the ambrosia. "Bloody hell. Sorry mate, you should have asked sooner. If you did, I would have given you something. Probably that worm that's now crawling down my esophagus."

Hades takes a step towards the Chimera. "As you can see, you were too late to the party. Now, if you don't mind moving, the captain and I have an appointment to keep."

"Actually, we do mind. How is it that a pathetic mortal disguised as a saint and a menace among the gods of Olympus are given the ability to walk among the living? After all your misdeeds, the both of you think you have the _right_ to get out of this miserable hellhole. If we can't get out of here, then neither can _you_." The chimera cries out.

Hades and Hook glance at each other. "I don't suppose that you have a sword with you, Hades?" Hook asks the god as he glares at the monster.

"Funny that you should ask that, Hook." Hades smirks and spreads his arms open. His hair fires up and blue-flamed tendrils runs down his arms. The tendrils moves past the ends of his hands into straight lines forming an outline of a sword in front of Hades. As the blue flames are slowly extinguished, except for the ones on his head, a sword appeared. It was the sword they left behind at his throne room. Hades tosses the sword to Hook. "This sword should suffice."

Killian grins at the sword in his hands. "Ah, we're taking the hard way out of here, aren't we? Fighting a monster or two before getting to the portal?"

"Well, as you pretty little sunflowers go on and do that, Im'ma stay over here. Uh, and chill. Wow, everything is so colorful. Oh look, it's a pretty goat," Charon slurs as he looks up at the Chimera. "Hey! C'mere, lemme hug you, let's chill." Charon then proceeds to try to hug his boss. As you can see, while everyone was distracted, he ate some ambrosia and therefore is now high.

Hades is neither fond of getting high nor hugging anyone, unless it is with Zelena. Unfortunately for Charon, he is not a pretty woman or Hades' true love. That didn't really stop him. The god keeps pushing Charon away, but the ferryman is very persistent when high. Hades' eye twitch in annoyance. "Not now."

"A little help would be appreciated!"

Behind the two immortal beings during this exchange, the Chimera attacked and Hook was running around like a beheaded chicken, trying to get their attention for help as he dodged the monster's fire.

The Chimera turns its lion head towards Hades while its dragon counterpart continues to try to burn Hook. It tries to bat Hades with its hoof but the god quickly dodged. Charon isn't so lucky and ends up being flung into the other side of the clearing. Hook and Hades now stood beside each other, staring down the two-headed beast.

"I could attack from behind, but the damn heads keep watching me," Hook whispers.

"I'll distract it. Attack the neck, that's the weak spot. Just attack when you can," Hades replies. Blue fireballs begin to form on Hades' hands. With great accuracy, he throws the fire towards the monster's eyes. "Go!" He yells at Hook.

The Chimera unleashes its fiery dragon breath on Hades. The god quickly pulls up an invisible shield that stopped the fire from reaching him. Despite his shield curving the fire away from him, Hades feels the heat radiating from the bright red flames. Once the attack stopped, he throws more fireballs towards the Chimera's eyes. The monster roars from the pain, but carries on fighting. Hades' distraction works and keeps both of the monster's angry heads focused on him.

Killian rushes to get behind the Chimera, but careful to not get its attention. He has to figure out how to get close enough to its neck. The pirate gazes down at the sword in his hand. _Or perhaps I don't need to get close._ Recalling Emma's story about beating a dragon, Killian takes a deep breath. With all the strength befitting a living hero, he flings his sword, aiming straight for the beast's neck. The sword hit its mark and starts choking the dragon's head.

The lion's head roars in agony. The fire that the beast used for its attacks now had no way to get out. The Chimera begins to burn from the inside out. Its body slowly turns to stone and crumples into dust.

"Well, that was eventful. Do you want a hug? Im'ma give you a hug," Charon said as he appears from behind Hook. Hook dodges the ferryman's arms and moves over to Hades.

"You can do that when he's dead again, Charon. We have to go. More might be coming." Hades voiced while eyeing the dead Chimera's ashes.

Killian nods in agreement. "Let's go then. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."


End file.
